Lightsource lands maiden India solar tender

Lightsource Renewable Energy, the most prolific developer of utility-scale solar in the UK, has won its maiden tender in India.

Lightsource has secured an element of the latest 450MW tender for the Indian state of Maharashtra, managed by Solar Energy Corporation of India, which will see the firm develop a 50MW ground-mount solar farm in the state.

It will receive benchmark tariff support of INR4.43/kWh (£0.05), combined with viability gap funding (VGF) of INR1.96 million/MW (£22,445).

The support framework means that upon the project’s commission, Lightsource will receive a one-off payment of £1.122 million, followed by tariff support of £5/MWh throughout the array’s operational lifetime.

The company’s maiden tender success comes less than a year after it signed a major deal to partner with infrastructure finance firm Srei Infrastructure Finance to develop as much as 3GW of utility-scale solar in the country.

Nick Boyle, chief executive at Lightsource, said: “We are delighted to be taking the first steps towards our ambitions for investment in India’s solar PV market. The Indian government has a huge appetite for solar energy and we believe that Lightsource will contribute significantly towards their targets.”